Soups

This turkey vegetable soup is a perfect way to get a few more meals out of that holiday turkey!

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those turkey bones after you’ve roasted, carved, and served a turkey? It seems like such a waste to throw them away. With this turkey vegetable soup recipe, you don’t have to waste them ever again. Whenever we roast a turkey, we always freeze the leftover carcass whole. That way, when we’re ready to make a batch of turkey vegetable soup, we’re good to go!

You can also make this soup without the turkey carcass. You’ll definitely want to use chicken or vegetable stock, but would need to add about a pound of turkey meat (or chicken). The most important part of any soup is getting a good broth. Or, you can also try our recipe for chicken soup.

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Kat's Turkey Vegetable Soup

A delicious turkey soup made with almost any combination of vegetables. This soup is great for wintertime.

Put turkey in a large soup pot with 8 cups liquid, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 hours

Remove turkey from the broth and set aside. Strain the broth into a large container using a wire strainer to remove all bones.

Strip the turkey bones of all meat. This can be a tedious step because you need to get all the meat and none of the bones. This is the last chance to remove bones from the soup, so be thorough.

Vegetables

Put the vegetables, seasonings, and broth into a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 - 60 minutes.

Add any frozen vegetables you'll be using. Return to a boil and simmer an additional 30 minutes.

Recipe Notes

The recipe above includes the "basic" vegetables of onions, carrots, and celery. You can also add your choice of additional vegetables. Here's a chance to be creative! We'll usually add whatever frozen veggies we have in the freezer near the end of the cooking (you'll see a step for adding frozen veggies).

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.

Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook over low heat until vegetables are tender.

Add remaining ingredients and cook for 1 - 2 hours

Remove apples and season to taste. Serve hot.

Recipe Notes

We like to prepare the soup ahead of time and refrigerate it. When it's time to serve, we'll cook rice or noodles and add enough soup for the meal. Keeping the starch separate prevents the rice or noodles from soaking up all the broth.

Over medium heat, heat oil in a large pot. Add onions and cook until nearly translucent. Add
garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook until garlic is lightly golden and the spices
aromatic, about 30 seconds. The pot will be quite hot, so have your broth ready to pour in so
your garlic doesn't burn.

Add broth, tomato paste, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Stir and bring to a boil. Cook at a low
boil for 20 minutes.

Add corn and tomatoes. Bring stew back up to a boil and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes
until potatoes are fork tender.